


Good Boy

by XaverianQueenChrissy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 03:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8313175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XaverianQueenChrissy/pseuds/XaverianQueenChrissy
Summary: The story of how Daikichi came into Subaru's life is hardly a happy one.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I heard a rumour about subaru's dad having possibly worked himself so hard he committed suicide so i kinda...ran with that and made myself sad in the process ;w;

It was a warm sunny day in June, and the members of Trickstar were gathered at the Akehoshi residence to practice. Subaru insisted everyone come over to his house, as he still had leftover birthday cake he wanted to share with his friends.

After hours of gruelling practice on the mock stage that had been in the backyard for years, Hokuto finally allowed everyone to take five. Almost immediately, everyone collapsed where they were standing, panting heavily.

“My my, you guys are working so hard,” Mrs. Akehoshi cooed, carrying a tray of watermelon, “don’t work yourself too hard, your bodies are still growing, after all.”

“Mama!” Subaru cheered, jumping up and taking the tray from her, smooching her cheek, “thank you!”

“Oh Subaru, do you think you could do me a favour? I know you’re practicing so hard.”

“Anything, mama!”

“Mama,” Makoto snorted under his breath, causing Mao to struggle to hold in his giggles.

“Daikichi hasn’t been out yet, and he’s causing such a fuss inside. It’s such a beautiful day, do you think you could let him stay outside with you?”

“Sure!”

“Akehoshi, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hokuto asked, taking the tray from him.

“Don’t worry, Hokke~! Daikichi won’t get in our way!” he reassured his classmate.

Mrs. Akehoshi smiled, turning back to the house. Moments later, an overenthusiastic Shiba Inu rocketed his way out the front door and pounced on Subaru.

“Ahhh, Daikichi!” he laughed, scooping him up in his arms and allowing him to be licked.

“Alright, let’s finish our watermelon and get back to practice,” Hokuto instructed.

The four plus the dog sat in the shade under a large japanese maple tree, happily munching away at their summer treats.

“Hey Akehoshi, how long have you had Daikichi?” Makoto asked out of curiosity.

Subaru seemed to freeze in the middle of handing the Shiba Inu a chunk of his watermelon. He happily slurped it out of his hands.

“Ah, um, I think it’s been about four years now?” Subaru mumbled awkwardly, gently scratching behind the dog’s ears, “right Daikichi?”

“Akehoshi, are you alright?” Hokuto asked, “your expression changed.”

“I’m fine,” he reassured his friends, “it’s just...it’s kind of a sad story, what brought him here.”

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” Mao reassured him.

Subaru shook his head, “nah, we shouldn’t have any secrets between us. We are all friends after all.”

“Alright, let’s hear it then.”

* * *

 

“Akehoshi-kun, please come to the guidance counselor’s office.”

The muffled voice over the loud speaker surprised the twelve year old. It was the middle of class, and he was grateful for an excuse to get out of algebra.

The teacher excused him, and he hopped, skipped and jumped his way down the hall. He knew he wasn’t in trouble for anything, so he assumed his father was in town and got even more excited.

Whenever the famous Akehoshi finished his long, gruelling tours across Japan, he always came home to spoil his wife and only child, and Subaru often looked forward to those days when he could skip school and dance along the sandy beaches in Okinawa with his father; they would eat ice cream until they were sick, he would always get tips and pointers from his father on how to become a successful idol himself one day, and Subaru always fell asleep sandwiched happily between his two parents. In a way, he was a spoiled child, though such vacations became less frequent as his father began struggling to keep up his idol image. Maybe today he would finally be home again. He needed all the advice he could get, as he had big plans after finishing middle school.

He opened the door to the guidance office, anticipating a mop of wild red hair and sparkling blue eyes crinkled with faint crows feet, ready to sweep him up in his arms.

It was his mom waiting for him, and judging by the way she wrung her tissue in her hands and the tear stained blotches on her cheeks, Subaru knew there wouldn’t be any trips to Okinawa in the near future.

“Mama?” Subaru asked as he approached her.

“Hi honey,” she forced a smile, “how was your day?”

“Why are you here?” he pressed, not wanting to beat around the bush.

She exhaled heavily.

“Subaru, your father was involved in an...accident.”

“Is papa okay?” he asked, eyes wide with worry.

Her bottom lip trembled, and she struggled to keep her composure.

“Let’s just go home, okay sweetie?”

The drive home was silent. Subaru pressed his cheek against the window, closing his eyes and remembering the sand beneath his feet, his father’s laughter ringing through his mind.

“He’s dead, isn’t he,” Subaru murmured.

Mrs. Akehoshi clenched the steering wheel.

It was all over the news that night, how super star idol Akehoshi was found dead in a hotel in Kyoto. His phone buzzed non stop, messages from his friends in middle school asking about what happened. He turned off his phone and went to bed.

Two days had passed, and Subaru had not left his room except for meals. The house was abuzz with family members coming to offer their condolences.

“Subaru, come out please,” his mother knocked hard on his bedroom door, “your cousins are here all the way from Miyagi and you can’t even show your face.”

He curled deeper into his bed sheets, wishing the world would leave him in peace.

He heard his door open, and the click clack of his mother’s heels crossing his bedroom floor. She gently sat down on the bed, patting the Subaru shaped lump on the mattress.

“Hey, come on, at least come to the wake tonight,” she cooed softly.

“Don’t wanna,” he muffled.

“Please, Subaru, this is hard for me too-”

“Why did he die, mama?!” He finally exclaimed, poking his head out of his cocoon, “did he forget about me?! Did he forget about Okinawa?! Why is he dead, mama?!”

“Subaru…”

“I don’t want him to be dead.”

She wrapped her arms around him, leaning her cheek on her son’s shoulder as he sobbed violently in her arms.

“I don’t want him to be dead either, baby.”

He missed the wake, and the funeral. Not even his rambunctious cousins could get him out of bed.

“He really looked up to him,” he could hear his mother’s muffled conversations with his aunt through the door of his room, “I’m worried about the toll this will take on his future.”

“You’re underestimating him,” his aunt replied, “he’s going to be upset for awhile but he’ll move on eventually. I mean, he’s just a boy.”

“Lord, my husband spoiled him so much, and yet he won’t even go pay his respects.”

“Isn’t that how boys are, though?”

The two women laughed, and Subaru covered his ears with the pillow.

Another week passed, and Mrs. Akehoshi still found herself bringing his meals to his room. His teachers had called voicing their concern over his absence, and she found herself struggling to cope not only with her husband’s death, but also her son’s crippling depression.

“Subaru, do you want to speak to a therapist?” she asked him one night.

He shook his head.

“I want dad.”

“I know you do, sweetie.”

It took another two weeks for a solution came to her. As she was walking home from the school with Subaru’s homework in tow, she came across a cardboard box on the side of the road, and she was about to walk by it without a second glance, when a head popped out of the box and barked at her, causing her to nearly drop Subaru’s homework into a puddle.

“My my, what do we have here?” she murmured, taking a good look at the young Shiba Inu who was happily panting; his soft brown eyes bearing into hers.

She crouched down and gently scratched the back of his ears. He happily nuzzled into her touch.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” she cooed, opening the box fully and finding just him inside, along with a hastily scribbled note. She picked up the note, discovering that he was one year old and in perfect health but the owner could no longer care for him.

“Well,” she sighed, “looks like we’re going to the pet store tonight.”

Juggling the box and Subaru’s homework, she made her way back home with a new friend in tow for her son.

* * *

 

“Ever since mama brought him home, Daikichi and I have been best buds! Right boy?”

Subaru happily scratched the Shiba’s tummy, smiling gleefully while the other trickstar members sat there in utter shock. Hokuto’s jaw was on the floor, Makoto was violently sniffling and sobbing, and Mao was wiping away stray tears.

“Akehoshiiii,” Makoto sniveled, “you’re so brave.”

“Akehoshi,” Hokuto finally got his bearings, clearing his throat, “please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you.”

Subaru was still too distracted by his dog to pay attention to Hokuto.

“Akehoshi, did you hear me?!”

“Hey guys,” Subaru interrupted Hokuto’s lecture, “after the dream idol fest is over, can we go to Okinawa?”

“Okinawa?” Hokuto asked.

“Yeah! All of trickstar going to Okinawa together!”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Mao smiled.

“Let’s do it!” Makoto cheered, blowing his nose.

“Alright,” Hokuto agreed, “but before that, we need to practice so we’re ready for the dream fest.”

Subaru jumped to his feet, causing Daikichi to jump out of the way.

“Let’s do this!”

From inside the house, Mrs. Akehoshi kept a close eye on her son through the window. She smiled happily as she saw the four boys happily dancing with Daikichi bouncing around the backyard panting happily.

Her son was happy again, and that's all she could ever ask for.


End file.
